My first class back with the World Dancers since January and it felt like I had never left! I was greeted with smiles, hugs and even a new friend that had been away the whole time I was in Santa Barbara last fall but we were both told we needed to meet! I was given my old spot, right beside Janet at the front and when the music came on it was like old times! We practiced our dance routine which we will be performing for the many different co-op’s that we are going to meet. It is a mix of dances from around the world including Salsa, African, American Bandstand and more. We sang one of our songs in Kinyarwanda to the rest of the group and we had the videographers there with us taking photos and video.
It is all beginning to feel very real and the magnitude of what I have involved myself in is starting to hit home. I have my suitcase packed, and my checked bag with 50lbs worth of balls, books, solar lights, pencils, and many other things that we are collectively taking over is sitting here ready to go. I have no plans to return to Canada and yet I have only half of a carry on packed with clothes and personal things – this is amazing to me!
What do I really need? I am going where they have very little and I am very fortunate to be from a wonderful country like Canada but there is something within me that has always known that the things I was told I needed in life by my family, my teachers, media, etc were wrong. I don’t need a lot of external things to survive and especially not to be happy. I need to go and see these people who are living with nothing and yet have smiles across their faces and joy in their hearts. They have something to teach me about love, forgiveness and happiness that I cannot find here in North America. I have learnt over these last 3 years that the less I have, the happier I am but this feels like a whole new level of understand awaiting me. I am willing to let it all go in my search for my own truth and finding true happiness.
iamloveinaction.org 